The Moksha Gita: Swami Sivananda // Commentary: Chapter 8.4.& 9 - Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Tuesday, 01 Aug 2023 06:20.

The Moksha Gita: Swami Sivananda

Chapter 8: Ignorance and Wisdom-3.

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5. 

"He who thinks "Prakriti does everything, I am only witness, I am non-doer, I am non-enjoyer," is a wise sage."

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Prakriti or Nature is the real doer of all actions. Prakriti is understood as the concrete appearance of a universal power which is other than the essence of the Reality. This has got both a cosmical and an individualistic significance. As the cosmical energy Prakriti works the evolution of the mass of beings constituting the universe and as the individualistic energy it brings about the activity of the Jiva.

Action binds the Jiva when it considers itself as the doer of the action. The Intelligence of the Atman is reflected through the Vijnanamaya Kosha which is predominated by distraction and activity and which limits the Self to Jivahood. The actions of the superficial sheaths are superimposed on the taintless Self. The creative push of Prakriti which is inherent in every individual causes the individual to be helplessly driven to act. No amount of protest on the part of the Jiva can stop Prakriti from functioning. The only course that the individual has to take is to be a silent witness of the actions of the superficial nature and be unconcerned with the effects of those involuntary actions.

The self is in fact neither a doer nor an enjoyer. It is Nature that acts as such. The feeling of Sakshittwa of the self should be cultivated as long as the natural active tendencies cannot be checked. When the active impulses are withdrawn through the meditative force, Sakshi-bhava gives way to Samata-drishti or Aikya-bhava or the feeling of equanimity and oneness in life. This again gives rise to the still higher step, Brahmabhava, where the actions of Prakriti are interdicted through the generation of spiritual power, and the One Brahman alone is perceived in everything.

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Chapter 9: The Five Sheaths

1, 2. 

"The Guru said: This Annamaya sheath or food sheath is made up of the five elements. It has a beginning and an end. It is inert and full of parts. It is an effect of the five elements. It is full of impurities. Therefore you are not this physical body or the Annamaya sheath. You are the witness of this body. Understand, therefore, "I am not the body. I am Brahman.""

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The physical body is the grossest form of thought. The food consumed by the parents is converted into Sukla (semen) in men and Sonita in women and by the combination of these the physical body is formed. After birth, the body grows by suckling the milk which is only a transformation of the food consumed by the mother. The body is further developed by taking food. It gets dissolved in earth which is another form of food. The body is itself a food for other creatures. Hence it is called the food sheath, the material body or the earthly encagement of the soul. The food sheath is an object of perception. The Atman is the cogniser and the body is the cognised. Hence the Self is different from the body. In dream and deep sleep there is no consciousness of the body.

The five elements constitute the physical body. These modifications of Maya are not the Truth, the body and its Dharmas, size, form, birth and death are not actual modifications of the Self. Varnashrama, name and class differ in different births. They are mere accidental attributes of the body. There is no physical body either before birth or after death. Hence it is non-eternal.

Existence, birth, growth, modification, decay and death are the six Vikaras of the physical body. Just as the ether in a pot is not affected in any way by the destruction of the pot, so also the Atman is not at all affected by the destruction of the body or the Annamaya Kosha. Atman is unattached. Ether is subtle, but the Atman is still subtler. Atman is formless, changeless, birthless, deathless, free from old age. It is neither born nor is killed. Hence one should meditate on this Atman or Brahman.

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To be continued

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